After seeing that Owen Wilson had returned to star in a drama/action film (as he did brilliantly in the film “Behind Enemy Lines”) I was very interested to view Owen Wilson’s performance.

No Escape has Jack (Owen Wilson, best known as Hansel from Zoolander) accepting a career change and moving permanently to Southeast Asia along with his wife and two young daughters. Not long after settling in, we witness odd issues occurring around this family including lack of power and cell phones no longer working. It’s not until the next day that we discover that Jack and his family are suddenly in the middle of a war with violent, heavily armed rebels who are keen on killing foreigners left right & centre. Will the family survive and escape the dramatic and violent massacre?

Without spoiling too much, the film’s setup is normal. I felt we are introduced to the plot and change of story at the right time during the start of the film. The issues I have with his film is mostly the repeated scenes such as characters hiding under something, bad people not noticing where to look or our characters continually bumping into random characters that just seem to be the right people to help them on the next step. Previous James Bond star “Pierce Brosnan” even manages to pop up at the right time and place throughout the film and his presence in every scene was far too predictable and I’m sad to say, wasted.

The film overall feels too long. I was hooked by the suspenseful moments near the start of the film, but after an hour into the film, I would have been satisfied for credits to appear on my plasma tv.

Owen Wilson manages to run well as the lead but sadly it wasn’t anything that made me want to brag about his performance nor was it anything different if you have seen his previous Dramatic performance from “Beyond Enemies Lines”. Our lead hero can make a wisecrack or two but suddenly leap into a serious mode which then goes back and forth. 

Once you know the overall outcome of this film there is not a real reward for multiple viewings by the audience.

5.5/10

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Review Written by Peter Walkden